Google I/O 2023: Google announces emoji wallpapers

Android 14 has been in beta for a while, of course, but we’re very curious to see what Google has in store for its big, annual operating system update. During Google I/O 2023, the company again lifted a new tip of the veil about the operating system for smartphones. It was a bit small, but something very nice: emoji wallpapers, which will probably only come to Android 14.

Emoji wallpapers

The nice thing is that Google often demo it during I/O, which is all new. This way you can immediately see how it should work. The nice thing is that Google -of course- often chooses the nicest functions for this and we also saw that during I/O, although this was already leaked a few months ago:

Mishaal Rahman, who has more firsts, already announced in March that Android 14 will come with an emoji wallpaper maker. You’ll soon see on your Pixel (it appears to be a Pixel-only feature) Emoji Lab within the wallpaper options. This allows you to choose 14 emoji when you want to make a wallpaper, which are then concealed in the design. The design is a bit reminiscent of the standard background of WhatsApp, but then full of self-chosen emoji (those turtles are great of course).

You can then choose all kinds of different patterns and colors. In terms of patterns, you can choose mosaic, lotus, stacks, prism and more. You can also tap the ‘Randomize’ button, which will randomly select a color and pattern. You can then find your creation under Wallpaper > Emoji Lab, so exactly where you made it. It is possible to save and switch different emoji wallpapers. You can also adjust the wallpaper with the pencil.

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That, and the ability to create the cinematic backgrounds below, which bring photos to life a bit more, is all we’ve heard of what we think is coming to Android 14. We had hoped to hear more about Android 14, such as the ability to clone apps, where you use one app with different accounts. Another new feature would be a better photo sorter, support for game controllers and a new health app, but Google didn’t mention that either.

To learn more about Android 14, check out our Android 14 page.